Apparatus for impregnating yarns



March 20, 1951 w. JONES ET AL APPARATUS FOR IMPREGNATING YARNS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 30, 1948 Patented Mar. 20, 1951 APPARATUS FOR IMPRE'GNATING YARNS Webster J ones, deceased, late of New York, N. Y., by Mildred Andrews J ones, administratrix, New York, N. Y., and John J. Heslin, Waltham, Mass., assignors to Chemo-Textiles, Inc., a corporation of Rhode Island Application June 30, 1948, Serial No. 36,017

7 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for impregnating yarns. The word yarns is used herein to designate those materials specifically referred to in the trade as yarns and in addition materials of similar form and properties, such as cord, twine, string, and thread, whether of staple fibers or continuous filaments. In one method for the impregnation of yarns they are contacted with the impregnating agent in solution or suspension, followed by heating to dry and/or cure the impregnating agent, for example by polymerizing it, after which the yarn is wound upon a spool for transfer to point of ultimate use. Suitable impregnating agents, depending upon the purpose for which the yarn is to be used, are rubber latex, partially polymerized resins, preferably of the urea formaldehyde type in aqueous solution or suspension, cellulose derivatives in organic solvents, vinyl-butyral or vinyl chloride in aqueous dispersion, co-polymers of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate in various ratios as solutions or dispersions, polyethylene in toluol or xylol, melamine formaldehyde and/ or urea formaldehyde in aqueous dispersion.

The purposes for which the impregnation is applied include:

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (j) (g) (h) (2') In all these cases the heating to dry'and set or cure the impregnating agent must be done while the yarn is freely suspended, since the result would otherwise'be to cement the yarn upon itself. Preferably the yarn is fed in individual spaced-apart form into contact with the impregnating agent, thence through the oven and thence to the winding spool. For economy of operation a number of yarns in spaced-apart form are usually fed through a common impregnating bath, thence through a common oven and thence to a winder containing a number of packages upon which the yarns are individually wound. This invention relates particularly to the apparatus for contacting the yarns with the im pregnating liquid and will be fully understood I from the following description read in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section through the complete contacting, heating and winding apparatus;

Fig. 2 isa top view of part of the construction shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detailed vertical section through one part of the construction shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section through the construction shown in Fig. 3 on the plane indicated by 4-4,

and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic cross-section through the constructionshown in Fig. l on the plane indicated by 55.

Referring to Fig. 1, the yarn I to be impregnated enters the contacting apparatus 2, through guide 3, emerging after impregnation at 9 to enter the drying or curing oven HM, in which it is heated to temperature at which the solvent will be driven oil and any desired change in the impregnating agent produced. After drying or ouring it emerges from the oven at the point I to enter the winder l! by which it is spooled.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4 for a detailed showing of the impregnating apparatus, tank 4 carries impregnating liquid 5, which is carried upwardly by roller 6, driven by shaft I projecting through the side wall of tank 4; Tank 4 is surmounted by a, number of individual sections, such as I2 (Fig. 2). These are preferably formed of sheet metal and include vertically disposed side portion 43 and horizontally disposed top portion 14 (Fig. 4). Each section is mounted at point l5 for pivotal movement about shaft [6 which is carried (Fig. 2) by brackets l1 and i8, mounted on flange l9 secured to side wall of tank 4.

Each individual section l2 may be independently tilted about the shaft I 6 (Fig. 3) and the horizontal portions l4 collectively form a roof or cover over the tank (Fig. 2).

' is provided with the tire or rim 22 of resilient material, such as rubber, which rides upon and is driven by roller 6. Roller 2| is rotatably mounted on shaft 23 carried by cell arm 24. Bell arm 24 is pivotally secured to the side l3 of. section 52 by rivet 25; the free end 26 of bell arm 24 is pivotally secured to the rod 27, which is in turn connected to spring 28, secured by rivets 29 to the horizontal top portion M of section E2. The tension applied by spring 28 is adjustable by means of the screw 29'. This provides an adjustable pressure between the rollers 6 and 2t. Yarn l is fed into the bite 30 between these rollers by guide roll 3! pivotally mounted by stud 32 Roller 2| (Fig. 3)

in side wall I3 of section I2. After emerging from the bite the yarn passes through wire loop guide 34 into the bite 35 between squeeze rollers 35 and 3?. Roller 36 is rotatably mounted by stud 38 in side wall I3 of section I2 while squeeze roller 31 is rotatably mounted by stud 39 in bracket 4I carried by spring 42. The tension of spring 42 and therefore the pressure between squeeze rollers 36 and 31 is manually adjustable by the two screws 43 and 44 threaded into horizontal top portion I4 of section I2. Upon emerging from bite 35 of rollers 36 and 37 the yarn passes through an additional squeeze provided by the two stationary cones 45 and 46 of resilient material. Cone 45 is secured to the side wall l3 by bracket 47 held in position by screw 48, while cone 46 is carried by bracket 51 pivotally mounted by stud 52 on side wall I3. The pressure between cones 45 and 46 is adjustable by tension spring 53.

As is evident from the foregoing, any one of the sections I2 may be tilted about the shaft I6, thereby breaking contact between the rollers B and 2!. While these are in contact, they draw yarn I into the bite 32 between said rollers and thereby feed the yarn into the impregnating apparatus. The tilting of the section by breaking this contact automatically stops the feed of the individual yarn controlled by the particular section.

For the purpose of drying and/or curing, we preferably employ an oven iiil of the type shown and claimed in our copending application, Serial No. 36,018 filed June 30, 1948, which has sides I02 and H33 and a roof IM but no bottom, and therefore defines an inverted open bottom trough Hi (Fig. 1 and 5). Means is provided for heating the interior of the trough and the yarn, in freely suspended form, is drawn through the oven by winder I5 I. The oven is preferably relatively long and may, for example, have a length of from to 50 feet, One advantage inherent in this type of oven is that if a yarn breaks it immediately drops by gravity out of the zone of heat, thereby automatically preventing overcuring or burning, and visually apprising the operator of the particular yarn requiring his attention. As a number of yarns are preferably fed simultaneously through the same curing oven, it is prefererd to provide a number of vertically oriented longitudinally extending fins H18 (Fig. 5) suspended from transverse rods Ili'i carried in side walls I82 and I as. Fins 505 are held in spaced relationship by spools I68 encircling rods ml. lhese fins divide the trough into a number of parallel open-bottom channels Hi9, through the center portion of which the yarn, in freely suspended form, is drawn by winding apparatus i5I. While any suitable heating means may be employed, there is preferably used a number of transversely arranged electrical resistance heater elements I I I, supported by side walls I 8-2 and IE3, located beneath roof I04 and immediately above the tops of the depending fins I535. These heater elements maintain a uniform and controllable temperature within oven Iiil. In practice the heater elements III are subdivided or grouped into a number of individual circuits, each including several resistor elements, so that the heat input of each individual group may be individually controlled, for example by a thermostat operating through an electrical relay switch. Suitable temperature measuring devices (not shown) are mounted at various points within the oven to apprise the operator of the exact temperature obtaining within each part of the oven. As indicated in Fig. 5, each of the fins I06 is provided at its lower edge with the channelshaped stiffener H2 to minimize warping or buckling.

Preferably each yarn as it emerges from the oven (or some other suitable point) passes in association with a stop motion device, such as that diagrammatically indicated by I52, including a vertical lever I53 carrying at its upper end the wire loop I 54 which rests lightly on the yarn and through lever I55 controls microswitch I55. The construction is such that whenever the yarn breaks and lever 553 is no longer supported by the yarn, it will operate to close contact in microswitch I56, thereby causing electric current to travel through the leads I51 and I58 (Fig. 1.)

Referring again to Fig. 3, the horizontal top portion I l of section I2 is provided with upstanding stud 55 provided with the projecting shelf 55 secured between two lock nuts. The shelf 55 projects into the open jaw 57 of plate 58 pivotally carried by stud 5| attached to bracket 52, which in turn is riveted to the upright member 83. Plate 58 is normally urged in the direction indicated by arrow M by means of the tension spring 65 but is prevented from so doing by the latch be engaging end 6'! of rod 68, which is also pivoted to plate 58 at the point 69. The latch 66 is pivotally secured at the point II to the upright 53 and is also pivotally secured at I2 to the plunger 33 of solenoid l4. Whenever the stop motion device I52 becomes operative and current flows through the leads I5! and 158, the solenoid M is energized, thereby lifting the latch 86 and permitting the plate 53 to move upwardly in the direction indicated by arrow 56. The same movement releases lever I5 thereby opening microswitch I5 and interrupting the flow of current through solenoid I4 until normal operation is reestablished.

Whenever the stop motion device 54 is actuated by the breaking of a yarn, the particular impregnating section feeding said yarn will automatically and immediately be tilted upwardly about the pivot point I 5 thereby instantly apprising the operator of the particular impregnating section requiring his attention. Inasmuch as section I2 is open at one side, the operator may, merely by manually tilting the section, still further expose the guide and roller mechanism and, if necessary, rethread the yarn within the impregnating device in the matter of a few seconds.

The foregoing description is for purposes of illustration and not of limitation and it is therefore our intention that the invention be limited only by the appended claims or their equivalent wherein it has been endeavored to claim broadly all inherent novelty.

We claim:

1. In apparatus of the tank type for simultaneously contacting a number of yarns with impregnating liquid, the improvement in combination with the tank of such apparatus of a roof covering said tank, said roof being composed of a number of sections in parallel, each section being formed with a horizontally disposed top portion, each section carrying means for guiding individual yarn into contact with said liquid and each section being pivotally mounted to render accessible the guiding means carried thereby, and means cooperatively associated with each said sections for selectively pivoting any section aifected by breakage of yarn delivered by such section.

2. In apparatus of the tank type for simultaneously contacting a number of yarns with impregnating liquid, the improvement in combination with the tank of such apparatus of a number of sections in parallel surmounting said tank, each section being formed with a vertically disposed side portion, each side portion carrying means for guiding an individual yarn into contact with I said liquid and all sections being pivotally mounted about a common axis to permit tilting of any selected section to render accessible the guiding means carried thereby, and means cooperatively associated with each said sections for selectively pivoting any section afiected by breakage of yarn delivered by such section.

3. In apparatus of the tank type for simultaneously contacting a number of yarns with impregnating liquid, the improvement in combination with the tank of such apparatus of a roof covering said tank, said roof being composed of a number of sections in parallel, each section being formed with a vertically disposed side portion and a horizontally disposed top portion, each said side portion carrying means for guiding an individual yarn into contact with said liquid and each section being pivotally mounted to render accessible the guiding means carried thereby, and means cooperatively associated with each said sections for selectively pivoting any section affected by breakage of yarn delivered by such section.

4. In apparatus of the tank type for simultaneously contacting a number of yarns with impregnating liquid, the improvement in combination with the tank of such apparatus of a number of sections in parallel, each section carrying means for contacting an individual yarn with said liquid, all of said sections being mounted for pivotal movement about a common axis, a stop motion device cooperatively associated with a yarn delivered by each said section for actuation upon breakage of said yarn, and means for mechanically tilting each said section controlled by the associated stop motion device.

5. In apparatus of the tank type for simultaneously contacting a number of yarns with impregnating liquid, the improvement in combination with the tank of such apparatus of a number of sections in parallel, each section carrying means for contacting an individual yarn with said liquid, all of said sections being mounted for pivotal movement about a common axis, a drive roll mounted in said tank parallel to said axis, a driven roll carried by each said section adapted to contact with and be driven by said drive roll, and means for guiding a yarn into the bite between said drive and driven rolls whereby the yarn is fed into the impregnating apparatus, the feed into any particular section controlled by said bite being automatically discontinued on tilting said section, and a stop motion device cooperatively associated with a yarn delivered by each said section for actuating upon breakage ofsaid yarn, and means for mechanically tilting each said section controlled by the associated stop motion device.

6. In apparatus of the tank type for simultaneously contacting a number of yarns with impregnating liquid, the improvement in combina tion with the tank of such apparatus of a number of sections in parallel, each said section being formed with a vertically disposed side portion, each said section carrying means for guiding an individual yarn into contact with said liquid, all of said sections being mounted for pivotal movement about a common axis, a drive roll mounted in said tank parallel to said axis, a driven roll mounted on each said side portion adapted to contact with and be driven by said drive roll, and means guiding a yarn into the bite between said drive and driven rolls whereby the yarn is fed into the impregnating apparatus, the feed into any particular section controlled by said bite being automatically discontinued on tilting said section, and a stop motion device cooperatively associated with a yarn delivered by each said section for actuation upon breakage of said yarn, and means for mechanically tilting each said section controlled by the associated stop motion device.

7. In apparatus of the tank type for simultaneously contacting a number of yarns with impregnating liquid, the improvement in combination with the tank of such apparatus of a number of sections in parallel, each section being formed with a vertically disposed side portion and a horizontally disposed top portion, said top portions collectively forming a roof over said tank, each said section being mounted for pivotal movement about a common axis, a drive roll mounted in said tank parallel to said axis, a driven roll mounted V on each said vertically disposed side} portion adapted to contact with and be driven by said drive roll, and means guiding a yarn into the bite between said drive and driven rolls whereby the yarn is fed into the impregnating apparatus, the feed into any particular section controlled by said bite being automatically discontinued on tilting said section, and a stop motion device cooperatively associated with a yarn delivered by each said section for actuation upon breakage of said yarn, and means for mechanically tilting each said section controlled by the associated stop motion device.

MILDRED ANDREWS JONES,

Administratrix of the Estate of Webster Jones,

Deceased.

JOHN J. HESLIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Reid r May 12, 1942 

